


filthy greaser

by adelheid



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Adult Red Riding Hood, Alternate Universe - Greasers, Big Bad Wolf Kylo Ren, F/M, Greaser Kylo Ren, M/M, stalker Kylo Ren
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2018-11-15 16:59:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11235297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adelheid/pseuds/adelheid
Summary: 1950s Greaser AU. Rey works in a diner, Kylo rides a motorcycle. These things go like poetry.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Why am I starting a new AU when I already have to update my other reylo story? Blame it on the muse, and on these two idiots.

I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine  
Anytime night or day  
Only trouble is, gee whiz  
I'm dreamin' my life away

(every brothers - _all i have to do is dream_ , 1958) 

****************************

 

Rey wiped her hands on her pleated uniform.

The burger grease never seemed to come off her fingers. She was tired of smelling like processed meat and mustard, but these were the perils of working in a diner. She was slightly jealous of Finn. He always managed to avoid the stench somehow.

“I don’t know how you do it,” she muttered, stacking the clean plates.

“It’s called personal hygiene, Rey. Try it.”

She nudged him sharply in the ribs.

“Ow, what was that _for_?”

“You know what it was for.  Now help me clean up table five.”

The table had been recently vacated by Poe Dameron and his cohort of fans and it was a complete mess, spilled milkshakes and dirty napkins all over the floor, but no one ever complained, because he was the high school heartthrob and captain of the football team. Rey had stubbornly avoided crushing on him, though she couldn’t say the same for Finn. Her friend always got moony eyes when Poe happened to occupy a booth at Jakku. 

“I know it’s absolutely hopeless, but let me dream, will you?” he’d say whenever she reminded him that Dameron was oblivious to their existence.

Rey knew about hopeless dreams. Even though she had the grades and the aptitude, she doubted she would ever get into MIT.  Her uncle Luke said he believed in her, but he admitted he couldn’t scrounge up the money for college unless she won a scholarship. That’s why, when she didn’t have her head stuck in a physics book, Rey worked in her uncle’s garage and did part-time at the diner. She was saving up every penny. Even so, the odds were stacked against her, especially since the spots reserved for women were so few.

She knew things were much worse off for her friend, but Finn was impossibly resilient. He never failed to cheer her up. 

Just then, he threw a paper napkin in her face “Wake up, princess.”

Rey stuck out her tongue and showered him with pizza crusts. They started a small food fight in no time – it was their favorite activity, after all – but when their boss, Maz, walked out from storage they quickly returned to their duties, as if nothing had happened.

“Okay, there are leftovers in the back for the both of you. Now, which one is gonna lock up for tonight?” Maz asked, as she carried her bag to the door.

Finn looked beseechingly towards Rey. He’d asked her to cover for him because he had to pick up his mom from work.

“That’ll be me,” she raised her hand with a small smile.

Finn kissed her cheek and ran out the door with Maz Kanata yelling after him to be careful crossing the street.

Rey gave a small laugh and returned to the counter.

Half an hour to closing time. It was already dark outside and the streets looked empty. The only folks coming in now would just order take-out.

She busied herself tallying the orders and clearing up the cash register. She loved doing sums in her head. The figures sped so fast in front of her eyes, she was quicker than a calculator. She was so caught up in the bills that she didn’t even notice the door swinging open.

Heavy boots scuffed on the bright tile floor. A dark figure sat down on a stool, leaning across the counter. It was the cigarette smell that finally made her look up.

“No smok-” _ing allowed_ , she would have said. But the words got lost somewhere on the way.

She was staring at every mother’s worst nightmare. Well, she’d never known _her_ mother, but she could tell he was trouble.

He wore a thick leather jacket, scarred and weathered, as if it had seen many days of battle. His wife-beater was slightly pulled out of his black studded pants. His hair was combed back, but a few rebellious locks had fallen in his face. His mouth sported a mean, sardonic smile, with a lit cigarette stuck between the lips.

His dark eyes surveyed her for a moment too long. They had an almost animal intensity. 

 “No smoking allowed here,” she finally managed to say.  

“Hm. What’re you gonna do about it?”  

His voice was deep, like rusted metal, but there was a dangerous softness underneath that made her skin prickle. It didn’t sound like any boy she’d ever heard. He looked slightly older than that, though.

“I – I'll call the manager,” she said, twisting her head towards the backroom where she knew no one was waiting to jump to her aid. 

“I doubt it…” his eyes dropped to her peach-colored uniform and the small tag on her chest. “… _Rey_. You’re all alone here.”

She swallowed thickly, tasting the burger grease at the back of her throat.

“Maybe I should call you Red,” he drawled, staring at her cheeks which were slowly turning crimson.

Rey bit her tongue. She hated how easily her face betrayed her. People told her she looked young for her age, but what did they know? 

“What do you want?” she demanded in a hostile voice.

“Huh. Some service,” he commented, raising a dark brow. “I thought you diner girls were supposed to be nice.”

She smiled sweetly. “You thought wrong.”

He didn’t seem bothered by her reply; on the contrary. He parted his lips and blew smoke in her face.

Rey coughed angrily. She’d had enough of this greaser – because what else was he? –and his rotten attitude.

She reached forward and grabbed the cigarette from his fingers. Then she sank it into a soda bottle. A few curls of smoke trailed up towards the ceiling.

The stranger smirked, although his eyes stared at her with cool detachment. He was assessing her silently.

“I have to close up in five minutes,” she announced archly, smoothing her uniform and backing away from the counter. “So you’ll have to go.”

He made no move to get up. “What if I want to order?”

“There’s no food left,” she said, eyeing the phone hooked on the wall. She wanted to call her uncle Luke to come and get her, although the last time he’d picked her up from anywhere, she’d been thirteen.

“I wouldn't say that…” he trailed off, staring her up and down. Rey realized he now had a good view of her short uniform. 

She folded her arms across her chest. “You’re disgusting.”

He chuckled and it had the texture of hot gravel in the summer.

He got up eventually and ran a lazy hand through his hair. It was so black it reminded her of the black holes she loved to study in her room late at night. Uncle Luke had pilfered the college textbook from a customer. She kept it hidden under her pillow.

“You owe me a cigarette,” he informed her smugly, walking towards the door.

"No, I _don't_."

He threw her a look. “See you around, Red.”

She wanted to have the last word, to say something mean and smart, but in the end she only stood her ground and watched his tall figure disappear in the dark.

Curiosity got the better of her and she approached the windows.

She saw three motorcycles in the distance and a girl and a boy waving at him impatiently. The girl had frosted short blond hair and looked like she could tear you apart with her bare knuckles while the boy had the haughty apparel of a rich kid who enjoys torturing small animals.

_Huh, strange crew._

He was definitely their leader, though, because he quieted them down with just a look. He mounted his motorcycle and kicked off the engine with enough noise to wake the entire block. 

For a moment, Rey thought he looked back at the diner, but before she could be certain, he had stormed off, followed with less pomp by his two cronies.

She could already hear Uncle Luke telling her to stay away from these  _bad seeds_ , as he called them.

 _Like I’d ever come near them_ , she thought, wrinkling her nose.

Just the same, she wouldn’t tell Finn about it. She didn't want to make a big deal about it. She probably wouldn’t see them again; this wasn’t their kind of joint anyway.

She went to change into her normal clothes in the backroom. She still smelled like processed meat and mustard. 

Rey heaved a sigh. She caught her reflection in the mirror and noticed that a pale shade of red still lingered on her cheeks.

_Red._

She turned away quickly, forcing herself to think of her math homework and not the dark stranger. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for going AWOL on this story, i had a fight with my muse. but that's hopefully resolved now! thank you for your comments and kudos, i hope you like what i have in store!

 

Rey picked up her bag and shuffled out of class. She was clutching a dog-eared textbook to her chest. Professor Erso had lent it to her, on the provision that she bring it back in a month’s time. She knew she’d devour it in a week and then reread it several times. It was college-level mathematics. She felt so proud that he had taken her under his wing, even though he wasn’t hopeful about her prospects. “I don’t want you to be disappointed, Rey,” he kept telling her. But Rey couldn’t help it. The world was a cruel place, and she had to inhabit it, whether she liked it or not.  She just had to pursue her passion and see where it took her.

She checked her wrist. Finn still had half an hour of gym left. She picked out her usual bench next to the parking lot and happily sat down with her textbook.

She was on page five when the loud noise almost made her jump out of her skin. It was the report of a motorcycle engine.

Three bikes cruised past the parking lot, making the bystanders turn their heads in disapproval.

Rey felt a sudden lurch in her stomach. She gripped the textbook until the spine started to crack. One of the bikes had stopped in front of the school gates and she could have sworn that the figure behind the dark helmet was staring _straight_ at her. She couldn’t see his face, but she didn’t have to. His giant built was unmistakable. His gloved fingers gripped the handle and turned, making the engine roar.

Rey swallowed hard and tried to look away, but it was hard when the motorcycle was making so much noise.

She got up on wobbly legs and walked with big steps towards gym. She was annoyed at her own reaction, but the sooner she got away from _him_ the better.

Had it just been a coincidence that he’d passed by her school? Probably. This was a small town, but it wasn’t that small.

Rey glanced over her shoulder furtively and – thank the Gods – the bikes were all gone.

 _I’m telling Finn._   She already didn’t feel comfortable, not having told her best friend about her late night encounter.  She was going to come clean and tell him she may have butted heads with the self-proclaimed greaser of the town.

But the words died on her lips when she saw her friend exit the lockers with a swollen eye and dark bruises on his jaw.

“Oh my God, what happened to you?”

Finn smiled and winced, holding his jaw gingerly. “Just some friendly sporting between athletes.”

“Finn. This looks serious. _Who_ did this?”

“It doesn’t matter –”

“Oh yes, it does, because they are receiving a little gift from me later.”

“Easy there, peanut,” he smiled, patting her back. “Remember you weigh less than my gym bag.”

Rey scowled. She always got very belligerent on his behalf. She wanted to fight all his battles.

“We have to go to the nurse and look at that eye.”

“I think she left for the day,” Finn sighed wearily.

Rey pulled him into a tight hug. “Then we’ll go to Maz, she’ll know how to fix you up. We just need to put some ice on it.”

Fin hugged her back, letting his head fall on her shoulder. Being one of the only three black kids in a school that would have kept him outside the gates a few years ago was a feat of great resilience. Sometimes you just wanted to tell the world to go to hell, sometimes you just wanted to quit. But friends like Rey reminded him why he kept going.

“Tell me his name,” Rey insisted angrily. “I’ll find out anyway.”

Finn shook his head ruefully. “Come on, peanut. You’ll unleash hell some other day.”

 

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent at Maz’ house. She swabbed generous amounts of alcohol over Finn’s wounds and stitched his small cuts while Rey held his hand.  

“Look at you, tough as steel,” Maz hummed, patting his cheek proudly. She had been a field nurse in the Second World War and those kinds of skills never quite fade away.

Finn was rewarded for his forbearance with pain killers and hot apple pie. He had to keep a bag of frozen peas over his eye, but he had cheered up considerably.

In all the commotion, Rey had forgotten to tell him about the greaser and his gang, but she decided it was best not to worry him over nothing. He’d already had a rotten day and he didn’t need to hear about it.

Besides, she had her double-shift to get to. Maz was gracious, but she appreciated hard work. Finn was welcome to rest on her couch until it was time to pick up his mom from work.

“See, it pays to get socked in the eye,” he joked as he sprawled in front of the small TV set.

Rey frowned. “Will you just tell him who it was?”

But Finn was already engrossed in an episode of _The Honeymooners_ , or had blatantly ignored her question.

Rey knew one airtight way of finding out. There’d be gossip about it at the diner.

 

 

He went by Nines. Probably because there was a stupid nine on his stupid jersey. Rey knew he was a senior and that he would’ve flunked out if not for his rich daddy who’d donated the school a new chemistry lab. His real name was Nigel, which was possibly worse than Nines. In any case, he was a _dead_ man as far as she was concerned.

Not that she could physically hurt him - the guy was as thick as a battering ram - but she could glare at him pointedly in the hallway and spit in his milkshake if he dropped by the diner.

It was Poe Dameron who’d indirectly given her the intel. He’d been talking about the incident quietly with his group over fries. To his credit, he called Nines a moron and seemed like he disapproved of the whole thing. But he wasn’t going to make a stand about it and neither would his friends. They knew who the racists were, but engaging with them or even trying to stop them was an effort too big, an action too _grotesque_ to be undertaken. They didn’t want to be involved.  It could get messy.

Rey fumed silently for the rest of the evening. She’d forgotten all about the greaser.

A few minutes before closing time, she went to take out the trash.

It was nice to be out in the cold for a while and clear her head. She hadn’t taken her jacket with her, but she liked the way the night chill nipped at her bare arms.

"Hey there, Red."

Rey dropped the garbage bags at her feet. She cursed silently for spooking so easily. She should have expected this. She shouldn’t have let her guard down.

He was leaning against the brick wall, hands in his pockets. It almost seemed like he’d materialized out of the dark.

"Don't do that,” she chided sternly.

"Do what?"

"Lurk like that."

"Scared you, did I?" His voice sounded like the night train passing through town.

"Not even a little bit," she replied coolly and bent down to pick up the trash.

Her skirt rode up her thigh an inch and he cocked his head to the side.

"What's got you so glum?” he drawled, sounding both amused and serious. As if he really wanted to know. _Ha_.

One of his boots was pitched on the wall behind him. He looked effortlessly cool, although…there was something about his frame, something unstable. Like if you came too close to him, he would crush you. Maybe he had anger issues. Or maybe he was just a jerk.

“I don’t know, I guess I’m not in a cheerful mood like _you_.” She wanted to move past him but his imposing bulk would not let her pass. He blocked her exit with an arm against the wall for emphasis. She noted that he smelled like exhaust fumes and winter pine.

“Na-ah. You gotta earn your freedom.”

“My freedom?”

“Still waiting on that cigarette you owe me, Red.”

She’d forgotten all about that. Was he honestly still hung up on something so juvenile?  Rey’s nostrils flared. “I don’t smoke.”

He smiled, though the humor did not reach his eyes. “Not my problem.”

Rey craned her neck to look up at him. She hated how tall he was, how dwarfed she appeared in comparison. “I’m not getting you a cigarette.”

“Huh,” he remarked dryly. “Then we have ourselves a _predicament_.”

His arm was still blocking her path.  Rey smoothed the front of her skirt with slightly moist palms.

“What – what do you have in mind?” She hated how her voice wavered at the end.

He ran a hand through his dark locks and leveled her with a look that was almost solemn. “Lots of things you wouldn’t like, Red.”

A small animal jumped in her stomach. She felt like running, but she was frozen on the spot.

She needed to distract him from whatever designs he had on her. He was probably just toying with her, trying to get her to cower before him. But she wasn’t that weak.

“I saw you at school today,” she said, taking a step back, forgetting there was a wall behind her.

“Did you?” he rasped, taking step forward.

“Uh, yeah, you were hard to miss,” she spoke quickly. “Do you always drive by to show off?”

“Only when I have an audience,” he said, trapping her against the wall.

“Well, I _wasn’t_ impressed.”

He gave a gravelly chuckle. “Clearly.”

The cool air made her skin pucker. Rey folded her arms over, trying to stop the sudden shiver in her body. “I’ve got bigger things on my mind.”

And she meant it. Finn’s bruises were still fresh in her mind.

And then, almost without thinking, she told him. “My friend got hurt by this stupid bully.”

The greaser tilted his head in an expression of curiosity. It was her sign to go on.

“He – he got roughed up pretty badly. And I know the idiot is going to get away with it.”

“That sounds pretty unfair,” he replied lazily, although his eyes were alert with interest.

“It _does_.”

“Mm. Did he upset you, Red?” His question sounded almost pleasant, but she detected a sharp edge to it.

“He upset my friend, so _yes_.”

The greaser smiled, leaning closer. “I can take care of him for you. Make sure he doesn’t forget. But…you’ll have to give me more than a cigarette in return.”

Rey’s heart beat very quickly. There was a small storm in her chest. It was getting hard to form sentences. But she had to try.

“I - whatever – whatever you want.”

“Oh now, _Red_ ,” he chided, weighing down her name, “don’t go making promises like that. They’re very dangerous.”

Rey gritted her teeth.  “I’m not scared.”

He raised his hand and one of his fingers tipped her chin up. The contact was electrifying. It left a strange murmur across her skin.  

“Then we have a deal.” His eyes were dead-set on her. There was nothing good behind them. What had she just agreed to?

Before she could protest, he stepped away from her and walked in the opposite direction. He soon melted into the night, leaving only his wintry scent behind.

Rey leaned against the brick wall, letting out a shaky breath. She realized she hadn’t even given him Nigel’s name, and yet he seemed like he didn’t need it. Come to think of it, she didn’t know _his_ name either.

Rey chewed on her lip until it was red and frayed. Had she just made a deal with the devil?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, just a quick heads-up: it's come to my attention that certain aspects of Finn's storyline may be a bit exploitative and heavy-handed from a racial perspective, so I might delete the second chapter and rewrite in the near future. stay tuned.


End file.
